West Lot Pirates

We start our Summer Previews with a look at the Big Ten teams that Northwestern does not play this season. What better place to begin than with the defending Big Ten Champions, the Michigan Wolverines. Can they rekindle the magic of 2021 and make it back to Indy?

With a magical season cut short by a juggernaut of an Oklahoma squad, the NU Softball team made some big news a 5 seniors announced they'll be back to finish the job in OKC next year. Then, we make our pivot to the 2022 Football season as we get set for our annual previews coming very soon.

It was arguably the greatest Super Regional in Softball history. Northwestern and Arizona State traded haymakers deep into the night and the Cats, on the arm of Danielle Williams and the bats of Jordyn Rudd, Maeve Nelson, Hannah Cady, Rachel Lewis and many more, prevailed and punched their ticket to the Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City.

As the Northwestern Softball team heads down to the desert to take on Arizona State in the Super Regionals, we welcome in Noah Coffman to help us dive in to this team on a whole other level.

What an incredible weekend we are having in Northwestern athletics right now. From the Jon Rothstein happy hour to Lacrosse dominating their way to the National Semifinals to Softball cruising their way to the championship game in the Evanston regional to a massive Football recruiting commitment wave, it's an exciting time to wear the Purple and White.

Big congratulations to the NU Softball team for winning the Big Ten Championship. Now, they're on to the Big Ten Tournament this weekend hoping to put a stamp on their chances of hosting NCAA Regionals/Super Regionals. Lacrosse is into the NCAA Tournament as well, drawing the 4 seed and a first round matchup against Central Michigan. A win would pit them up against either Michigan or Notre Dame, each of whom they've played this season.

It's time for our annual tradition of livecasting the first round of the NFL Draft with our friends over at Winning Cures Everything.

This week Veronica Burton became the second Wildcat ever taken in the top 10 picks of the WNBA Draft as she heads to Dallas as the 7th overall selection. We celebrate that, continue to rock and roll with the Softball and Lacrosse teams before we check in on some Football recruiting news and look at the USFL with a Northwestern view.

With Softball off to a wonderful start to Conference play (5-1), we have to take a closer look at the season of Rachel Lewis. She's not only hitting the cover off the ball, she's making her way up to the top of the NU record books. Lacrosse is also white hot as they gear up for the home stretch of the regular season. We've also got some transfer news as well on this episode of the West Lot Pirates.

If you're not watching this NU Softball team absolutely dominate all comers this season, now is the time to fix that. The Cats finished off their early season barnstorming tour with a decisive sweep of the weekend series at Mizzou, knocking off the 18th ranked Tigers and no-hitting a very talented Stanford squad. This week we also celebrate Ryan Deakin's National Championship in wrestling, continue to marvel at the Lacrosse domination and check in on our NCAA Men's and Women's brackets before previewing the NCAA Hockey tourney.

March Madness is upon us yet again! However, a grave injustice exists as the NU Women's team was snubbed from the NCAA tournament this year, thus ending the fabulous NU career of Veronica Burton. To help us wrap our heads around the Men's tournament, we welcome our own Bracketologist, Scott Sepich back to the show.

Thank you to everyone who braved the elements to come out to Welsh-Ryan Arena with us last week to honor the Seniors on the Women's Basketball team. Tonight, we recap that game and pay well deserved homage to the Softball and Lacrosse squads for their phenomenal performances last weekend.

The NU Softball team is off to a tremendous start to the season as they announced their presence with authority this weekend down in Florida. Knocking off 2 top 15 teams and barely losing to another sends a message to the rest of the College Softball world that the Cats are ready for action. We also check in on the start of the Lacrosse season and the ends of the Men's and Women's Basketball seasons.

With Softball and Lacrosse starting their seasons this week and both Men's and Women's hoops riding win streaks, it is definitely a busy time at Northwestern. Join us as we whip around checking in on everyone.

It was an anti-climactic signing day for the NU Football team, although they did get one late signee. We check in on the hardcourt to see the fight still there for both the men and women, even if the results aren't quite what they'd like.

The Northwestern Men's and Women's Basketball teams are in a bit of a funk right now. Sure, the men had a huge upset on the road at Michigan State, but with every opportunity to knock off #8 Wisconsin at home, the same issues we've seen for the past 4.5 years came and bit us on the butt. The women are also on the struggle bus a little after their big win at Iowa. Can either team right the ship as we get into the thick of conference play?

With the blockbuster move of Brandon Joseph to Notre Dame through the transfer portal, we need to take a look at some of the fundamental reasons someone might be looking to move. NIL is a part of it, but certainly not the only factor. Join us as we try to examine these issues while also trying to chart a course for NU Football through the murky waters ahead.

Tonight we finish our preview of the Bowl games, try not to tear our hair out after a major NU Basketball decommit and remember the legendary John Madden.

Tonight, we talk about Ryan Smith, reportedly the new NU CB coach coming in from Virginia Tech. We also have our first recruit commitment for the 2023 season and it's a doozy! Then we have a quick check on hoops before breaking down the next round of Bowl Games.

Ladies and Gentlemen, it's signing day! Today Northwestern welcomes in 15 incoming freshmen into the football program. We discuss the signings and the guys who will be coming to Evanston next season. Also, we start our 2021 Bowl previews with a look at the bowl games up through Christmas Day.